


It was with your words that you built a home for me

by mrs_badcrumble



Series: New Krypton [1]
Category: Man of Steel (2013)
Genre: AU, Building New Krypton, F/M, Thank heavens for the flu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 11:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3766018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_badcrumble/pseuds/mrs_badcrumble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lois ignores the voice that is saying to stop provoking the man with a warship, a personal army and many, many weapons, and says: »You may have the tactical advantage, but what it comes down to is that we would rather destroy this world than have it taken from us. We have a large enough stash of thermonuclear weapons to turn this whole planet into a radioactive wasteland and we will do it if we have to.« There is a horrified gasp from the people around her, but she doesn't care. She is locked into a staring contest with the General which she doesn't intend to lose. She hopes they won't call her bluff, though.<br/>She doesn't, and they don't. The General turns away first. »Forgive us, Miss Lane, if we have come across as warmongers and thieves. We simply desire a new home.«<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	It was with your words that you built a home for me

Lois doesn't hate kids.  
When her sister arrives, bearing baby Sam, saying: »One hour, Lois, that's all I ask, Ron broke his arm and I don't want to cart him through the ER, he could catch something.« Lois barely has time to open her mouth as the bundle of joy is thrust unceremoniously into her arms.  
When the door closes, Sam looks her over with a beady eye and promptly throws up all over her. Then he starts crying.  
Lois has to remind herself repeatedly that she doesn't hate kids.  
It's just that, to be perfectly honest, she's not too crazy about them either.

Then the whole thing with her article happens, and the alien ship appears in the sky and suddenly she is being outed on national television as a threat to humanity and on top of it all it looks like Sam really wasn't messing about.  
Lois looks Hardy over, says, »Excuse me,« and vomits loudly all over his shiny new shoes. Hardy looks less than impressed. In fact, if looks could kill, Lois would probably be a smoking pile of ash. She doesn't cry, though. She does have standards, after all.  
She vomits three more times before they let a doctor see her. The diagnosis is flu and/or a particularly nasty cold, the treatment plenty of fluids and bed rest. The first is easy. The second is hard, because Clark/Superman turns himself in and Faora, she of the flowing cape and soft voice, conveys the General's wishes that Lois accompany them.

The breather is clunky but Lois doesn't complain. She actually thinks that with the breather on, it is just that little bit easier to breathe through her swollen nose, though it could be just her imagination. She pushes Clark's black memory stick thing into her pocket and tries not to vomit.  
General Zod is an imposing presence with a deep, commanding voice and a scar running along the left side of his face. Lois has a feeling he doesn't smile often. Or ever, for that matter. The atmosphere on the ship does tend towards the cheerless variety.  
And then Clark is coughing up blood and Zod just keeps on talking about the Phantom Drive and the beacon Clark had activated (so like a man, she thinks, pressing buttons without knowing what they do…). Even when Lois pleadingly asks for help, he does not relent. His heartlessness, loss of his homeworld notwithstanding, is what finally snaps Lois' patience in two.  
(Along with a spiking fever, a blinding headache and a creeping nausea just waiting for the right moment to strike.)  
Lois stands and turns to Zod. »What is your play? Are you here to make war, to conquer Earth, make it a new home for a dying race? I would advise against that.« The gravity of the moment is rather spoiled by Lois sneezing three times in quick succession.  
Zod smiles a smile reserved for feisty cats right before they are collared and dragged into a cage. »Would you now?«  
Lois ignores the voice that is saying to stop provoking the man with a warship, a personal army and many, many weapons, and says: »You may have the tactical advantage, but what it comes down to is that we would rather destroy this world than have it taken from us. We have a large enough stash of thermonuclear weapons to turn this whole planet into a radioactive wasteland and we will do it if we have to.« There is a horrified gasp from the people around her, but she doesn't care. She is locked into a staring contest with the General which she doesn't intend to lose. She hopes they won't call her bluff, though.  
She doesn't, and they don't. The General turns away first. »Forgive us, Miss Lane, if we have come across as warmongers and thieves. We simply desire a new home.«  
»Open negotiations with the governments of Earth. Offer them technology in exchange for a planet in our system. It can be Venus. Or Mars. Or one of Jupiter's moons.« Clark slumps to the ground. »And for the love of God, do something to help him!«  
The General studies her for a long, uncomfortable moment. Then he nods at a woman and just like that, Clark is breathing again. Two of Zod's soldiers pull him to his feet and drag him back to the shuttle.  
Faora steps to Lois' side, clearly indicating the audience is over. Lois tries one last time to make Zod see reason. »Listen to me, General. Despite appearances, we can be reasonable. But threats and violence bring out the worst in us. Talk to people instead of threatening them.«  
Zod looks at her and for a brief moment, Lois imagines that something akin to understanding passes between them. The moment is broken when Faora touches her arm. Lois turns and leaves.  
She throws up on the way home twice, thankfully not on anyone's shoes. By the time they land, Clark has to practically carry her out because she is too weak to stand on her own.

The next time Lucy rings at her door with Baby Patient Zero in her arms, Lois doesn't open. She puts in earplugs and reads a book, her phone set to vibrate and balanced on her thigh.

The General seems to have taken Lois' advice to heart. Negotiations are opened and somehow, Lois is roped into negotiating for Earth. She spends endless hours debating with Zod, mindful of how the future of humanity depends on her skills as a negotiator (practically nonexistent) and diplomat (really nonexistent).  
The Kryptonians receive Venus, with help from Earth in setting up a base after terraforming it, in exchange for their engine technology, ansible, and their medical knowledge. No one is surprised when Zod doesn't budge an inch on sharing the weapons. Except the US military.  
He does promise not to use them against the inhabitants of planet Earth, though. Lois counts that as a personal success.  
He has a quick and agile mind and Lois struggles to follow sometimes. He also has a dark, wicked sense of humor that appears sporadically and extremely briefly before vanishing again. One of his quips has Lois accidentally inhaling a piece of bread and no one is more mindful than Lois of the sheer indignity of having had the Heimlich Maneuver performed on them by their former enemy.  
Even weeks afterward, she refuses to eat or drink in his presence. She will not give him another opportunity to make a fool out of her.

They celebrate with a formal dinner somewhere in the Alps. Surprisingly enough, the guest list is short, only thirty people altogether, including Zod and his crew. Lois is seated next to Zod and she desperately tries to think of a fitting topic for conversation.  
Zod is faster. He holds up a piece of beef speared on his fork. »This is delicious. What is it?«  
Lois thanks the pre-dinner briefing she received on the plane. »Kobe beef. It is a type of meat.« Zod nods as he chews. »They say that the cows are given daily massages and beer to make the meat so tasty after slaughter.«  
There is a horrified clatter of cutlery all around the table. Lois barely has time to wonder what kind of hideous _faux pas_ she has committed now when Zod asks, in a strangled voice: »You still slaughter animals for food?«  
Ah, yes. Millennia more advanced than humans. »I'm afraid so.«  
Several of Zod's soldiers push their plates away with a barely disguised look of utter distaste. One or two of them look just about ready to vomit. Zod and Faora exchange a look which is half disgusted and half horrified.  
Zod finally speaks. »We may be able to offer you machines to grow meat. Slaughtering animals would no longer be necessary.«  
Lois has a brief panicked mental flash of red-blooded Americans staging a riot because there is no longer any proper meat. She settles for: »Why don't we take this one step at a time, General? I'm sure we can rustle up some vegetables for you and your crew, hm? Perhaps a risotto?« She signals frantically to the servants.  
The rest of the dinner is eaten in silence and the Kryptonians leave shortly afterwards. Once in the privacy of her room, Lois bangs her head against the wall.

Somewhere along the way, Lois becomes one of humanity's ambassadors to New Krypton. The other one is Clark and the third one is Colonel Hardy. Ambassadors isn't the right word. Their job falls between observer, negotiator and organizer. It is their job to oversee the construction of New Krypton, facilitate the exchange of materials, aid in any way the Kryptonians ask for and if necessary, report any shady goings-on back to Earth.

Clark kisses her once. It is a proper, pleasant, wholesome kiss from a proper, pleasant wholesome man and it completely fails to curl any of Lois' toes. She lets him down gently and he takes it well. He does keep his distance from her and is cool professionalism whenever they meet.  
She is not angry. Of all the coping mechanisms he could have chosen, his is the healthiest one.

She reports to the UN every three months. Homecoming is always too short before she has to return. She plays with Sam (thankfully not throwing up anymore) and visits the Planet and finds out to her annoyance that someone wrote a story about _her_.  
But, she lives on an alien planet now. How cool is that?

One of the bright moments of Lois' stay on Venus (apart from staying on an alien, terraformed planet, which the five-year-old inside her still squeals about) is a pure, lovely, angelic voice that some evenings sings of longing and loss and grief. Though Lois does not understand the words, she understands the sentiment well enough. She sometimes amuses herself by trying to pin the voice on the first Kryptonian she sees the next morning. She giggles a little when she runs into Jax-Ur.  
The time she runs into Zod has Lois stoically continue on her way after mechanically greeting him. It should be funny, but Lois imagines Zod singing as a young boy, before he hit puberty and his voice changed, and it makes her insides feel funny.  
Once, she sees Hardy on the balcony as he listens to the singing with his eyes closed. When the song ends he turns and their eyes meet. She smiles and he lifts his cup to her. They fight a lot less after that.

Once Lois makes Zod laugh completely by accident. She mishears a sentence and says: »Why do you want to domesticate giraffes? They wouldn't survive here.«  
Zod laughs loudly, clutching at his stomach, bent forward while Faora hides a grin behind her hand.  
Lois is mesmerized. Zod looks decades younger, carefree and she could look at him like that for hours. The smile he wears for the rest of the day becomes him, she decides. She is so fascinated by him that she completely forgets to ask what the joke was about.

Zod and Faora walk in on her once by accident just as she is in the middle of a screaming match with a subsidiary of LexCorp, one of the suppliers, who had been dodging deliveries. The fight had lasted for over half an hour, during which Lois had been repeatedly told that a) not only would the materials be arriving late, but that b) the supplier decided to raise the price without discussing it with anyone even though c) the price had been pre-specified in the contract and d) the supplier didn't pay a cent for any R&D because e) the material had actually been part of the exchange with the Kryptonians.  
They got the great idea to do that because, oh, wait, Lois actually doesn't care about their motivations, she just wants the argument to be over and done with so she can go have a bath.  
When Lois is finally sick of their shit, she explodes. »It was a gesture of trust that the UN put into you when they gave you the formula for the materials. Instead of gratefully complying with our requests, which were very reasonable, you decided to ignore the contract. Alright. I'll do the same. The UN will give the formulas to anyone who asks and will buy the supplies we need from the lowest bidder. I personally will make sure that you never get to play in the big leagues again because an article detailing your exact behavior will be published in the Daily Planet, the Times, Pravda and in every single newspaper, on every single network and on every single blog that carries any weight in the world. And if you think I'm bluffing, think again: I am Lois Lane of the Daily Planet. _I am journalism._ You will be ruined and when Lex Luthor sells you for scraps, which he will, just remember that I gave you an out. Repeatedly.« When whoever it was on the other line speaks again, Lois says: »Save it for Lex Luthor. I really don't care,« and slams down the receiver.  
Lois turns and sees Zod and Faora looking at her. Zod looks amused, while Faora looks like a cat that just witnessed a mouse viciously maul a bear.  
»Problems, Miss Lane?« Zod asks.  
»Problems are my daily bread, General. It is the reason why I'm here.« She takes a few papers from the table, even though they aren't really hers, but she has to put her hands somewhere, otherwise they'll just flail around.  
»I wasn't aware you wielded such influence at the UN,« Zod says. Lois stops abruptly just as she is passing him. She smiles sweetly, leans towards Zod and whispers: »I don't.«  
Zod smiles. It is such a rare occurrence to see Zod genuinely smile (and not just draw up his mouth at the corners when he has to deal with _civilians, yuck_ ) that Lois stares.  
At Zod's inquiring look, she manages: »There's something stuck between your teeth,« and rushes away when Zod starts checking his teeth with his tongue.

The very next day, New Krypton receives all the delayed deliveries in one go, along with a handwritten note from Lex Luthor himself apologizing profusely for the trouble they went through, detailing the fate of the CEO, CFO and every board member of the subsidiary (fired, fired, blacklisted) and assuring them all future deals, even the ones routed through subsidiary companies, were now being overseen personally by the CEO of LexCorp.  
(There is another note, handwritten as well, addressed to Lois Lane. It contains four words: _Come work for me._ )  
Hardy is overseeing the actual offloading of supplies when Lois finds him. He says: »Good work, Lane.« They clink cups (his Earl Grey, hers coffee) and just like that, they're talking.  
Hardy isn't a bad guy after all, it turns out. He doesn't even bear a grudge for having his shiny new shoes covered in vomit.  
And to be fair, he had been warned beforehand.

That night, when she is reading a report in bed, Lois realizes with a shock that Venus/New Krypton is sort of her home now. She does look forward to seeing Lucy and Sam and Perry, but she will be even happier to return.

Zod approaches her the next morning just as she is inhaling her first cup of coffee.  
»Is Lex Luthor to be trusted?«  
»Absolutely not.« When she sees Zod expects more, Lois says: »He wants power. He wants knowledge. And he has an ego the size of Jupiter.«  
»Remind me again-«  
»Gas giant, great big red spot-«  
»Biggest planet in your solar system.«  
» _Our_ solar system. This is your home too now.« Zod's eyes go soft and the briefest smile appears at the corner of his mouth. He then clears his throat and asks: »You are leaving tomorrow?«  
»Yes. I'm going to hike around Ishtar Terra for three days.«  
»Be sure to always have your phone with you. We would be sorry to lose you, Miss Lane.«  
Lois blushes and says something completely generic and unremarkable while Zod leaves.

Lois is contemplating taking another photo of Mr Hoppy the adventurous rabbit with the Venusian landscape in the background (Lucy insisted, so she could have a proper present for when Sam inevitably wanted to be an astronaut) when her phone rings. It's Hardy, urgently whispering into her ear while klaxons blare in the background: »Lois, whatever you're doing, drop it and _get your ass here this instant._ « There is a loud crash. » _This instant._ You're the only one who can talk some sense into these two idiots.« There is another crash and the line goes dead.  
On final approach, Lois can see that one third of the complex has been completely destroyed before they even land. As she disembarks, she snags the sleeve of someone rushing by.  
»What the hell happened here? Were you attacked?«  
»Well, uh, kinda, but not really,« is all she gets. There is chaos, people running about, talking into phones and carrying things. She tries Hardy again but he is unreachable.  
On her way to her quarters (thankfully undamaged) she meets Faora, who, without prompting, says: »Kal-El found out General Zod killed his father. There was a disagreement,« says Faora, and Lois hears huge, awful fight, which destroyed a third of what you've spent the last year building. »They are currently being cared for in their respective quarters.« Right, thinks Lois, putting them side by side in the sickbay would have been a little silly. »No one has been injured or killed, but the material damage we have sustained is considerable.«  
After a pause, Faora says: »Kal-El refuses to share the Codex when the Genesis Chamber is ready for birthing,« and the poor thing looks harrowed and sick of male posturing and testosterone poisoning. Lois decides that a tiny smidgen of sympathy is in order. »Well, boys will be boys. And we always have the option of cutting off their testicles when they get a bit too much,« she says. For a brief moment, Faora looks ready to go searching for a blunt knife immediately.  
Three people run by, carrying something black and heavy-looking. Lois says: »I'll go talk to them both, for all the good it will do. I might make things worse.«  
Faora rolls her eyes, but she is smiling as she turns away.

Lois has a brief mental image of her playing relationship counselor and encouraging Zod and Clark, seated side by side on a couch, to just _talk about their feelings already_. The surreal scene replaying itself in her head is so funny that Faora finds her giggling to herself in front of Clark's quarters.  
»I trust you weren't planning on entering like this.«  
»No, I'm just-« giggle »trying to get it out of my system.«  
»I see. It was necessary to wire Kal-El's jaw shut. General Zod, I think, is best appreciated unprepared.«  
It doesn't make the situation any better. Now her mental image of the two is Clark, jaw wired shut, murderous expression on his face, forced to listen to Zod talk about his feelings about killing Clark's father; while Zod had his torn-off arm grafted to the top of his head, which he absent-mindedly uses to occasionally pat a furious Clark on the head.  
Faora leaves, shaking her head, as Lois doubles over.

Talking to Clark is difficult. No, actually talking to him is very, very easy. Talking _with_ him is hard, because he is still sulking and he communicates by terse sentences scrawled on an Etch-a-Sketch someone has found heaven knows where.  
»Clark, I understand you're upset, but destroying the colony was too much.«  
_One third of a colony_.  
»Really, Clark, are we really going to discuss semantics?«  
_He is a murderer._ Underlined, circled and thrust at her face.  
»Be that as it may, Clark, he has shown a remarkable willingness to keep his homicidal urges under control.«  
_Are you defending him?_  
»No, Clark, but you have to understand that everyone has a stake in this colony. Earth has worked very hard to provide the materials and supplies we needed and we have worked just as hard to build this. It took us a year and you destroyed it in a fight that lasted, what, fifteen minutes? You do all of us who worked on this a great disservice by dismissing the damage and destruction so lightly. Also, people could have gotten injured, or killed.« Lois is becoming annoyed and she doesn't like it. If the conversation carries on like this, it will end in another shouting match. Well, from her. Clark will just use a lot of exclamation marks.  
_Do you like him?_  
»Do I like who? What is this, Clark? Twenty questions?«  
_Do you like Zod?_ Scribbled rather angrily.  
»Clark, why are you asking me these things? I admire what he did for his people. That's it.«  
_Do you think no one sees you, the way you stare at him? Pining after a murderer? A war criminal?_  
»Alright, Clark, this is getting us nowhere. Let me know when you're ready to talk properly, like an adult.« Lois leaves and goes straight to her quarters, where she berates herself for acting like a schoolgirl.  
When she is composed, she goes to see Zod.

The first words out of her mouth are: »Oh, hello, you're a pirate,« to a surprised Zod who was reading papers on the couch.  
Zod has an eyepatch, one cast on the forearm and another on the leg, all three on the right side. Lois's still a little disappointed he doesn't have an arm sticking out of the top of his head, though.  
»Colonel Hardy said the same thing. What is a pirate?«  
»Pirates used to be sailors, who sailed under their own flag and robbed and attacked other ships. They were often depicted in media as missing one eye, arm and leg.«  
»I see. Do you see me as a pirate, Miss Lane?« Zod smiles.  
»Not usually, no. But right now, the resemblance is remarkable.« Lois grabs a chair to sit down. She sees no reason to beat around the bush. »You killed Clark's father.«  
Zod becomes dead serious. »Jor-El. Yes.«  
»Was it in self-defense?«  
»No.«  
»Was it an accident?«  
»No. It was murder, Miss Lane. A crime of passion which I committed because I lost and Jor-El had won. It was a crime borne of rage and frustration. It is one of the few decisions I deeply regret, for I thought of him as my brother.« Zod winces as he moves. »I should have been honest with Kal-El from the start. Secrets such as these have been the undoing of much more important alliances.«  
Zod and Lois look at each other for a long time. Finally, Lois speaks. »Clark is furious, that much is true. But he is a good man and he will not abandon you just like that. He'll come around.« Zod opens his mouth to speak, but Lois cuts him off. »I promise you that, General.«  
She mentally keeps her fingers crossed just in case.

Lois accosts Faora in the corridor and hands her a DVD. Faora looks first surprised, then suspicious.  
»Is this a bribe?«  
Lois smiles. »Play it. I think you'll find it pleasing.« As Faora continues her way, Lois says, »You have a lovely singing voice, Faora.«  
Faora freezes and looks at Lois. But there is no wicked glee, no mockery in Lois' expression. Just honest, simple admiration. »Thank you, Miss Lane.«

Clark comes to her quarters three days later, jaw still wired shut, bearing a letter of apology.  
»It's not me you should be apologizing to, Clark.« Clark manages to look both surprised, hurt and indignant. »The two of you need to talk this out, okay? He did bad things and he's sorry. You broke his colony and you should be sorry too. This is a place for new beginnings. Old grudges have no place here.« Dear God, Lois thinks, I sound like I'm talking to a child.  
As he leaves, Clark looks pensive. Lois hopes for the best.

Things sort of work out in the end. Clark and Zod will never be best friends, but they don't need to be.  
The colony is rebuilt, though the UN grumbles at the additional cost. Lois points out that any cost is cheap when it comes to free ansibles, jump engines and medicine. The officials grudgingly agree, though they request that fighting between superpowered entities be kept to a minimum.  
The Codex is retrieved and the Genesis Chamber put to work. Zod decides that the first brood will be only four children, to see how things will work out in real life.  
They celebrate. Hardy pulls a box of champagne out of nowhere and the Kryptonians prepare the food (vegetarian, with artificially grown meat. Lois just about pulls a muscle when she overhears Faora say to Hardy: »Well, how do you know you won't like it if you haven't tried it yet?«). Lois uses all her pull to secure a music system worthy of a party on an alien planet and of course, Clark provides the music.  
She is leaning against the railing on the big balcony when she hears someone approach. It turns out to be Zod.  
»The party is quite a success, I see.«  
»Yes. They are really having fun, aren't they?« Lois takes another sip of the champagne, which is excellent. Hardy really knows his stuff.  
»Colonel Hardy seems intent on teaching Faora your dances. She does not seem that keen on resisting him.«  
»She is a very graceful woman. I'm sure she would do well on the dancefloor.«  
Zod nods and smiles. It is one of those rare, _thank heaves I'm not dealing with an idiot_ smiles and Lois stares at the crinkles in his eyes and the almost-dimples and they gaze at one another like teenagers.  
Oh. _Oh._  
And then Zod puts his arm around her, she leans in and they look over they new home that they built together.

**Author's Note:**

> Since there is a dearth (read: none) of Lois/Zod fics around, I decided to make my own. Enjoy.
> 
> Also, where Faora says to Hardy »Well, how do you know you won't like it if you haven't tried it yet?« - taken from Brave and more specifically, Merida's mother talking to the triplets. I had a lot of fun trying to imagine Faora feeding haggis to a highly sceptical Hardy.
> 
> A very warm thank you to missmishka for betaing the story and for her prompt manner of replying.


End file.
